It included a continuing resolution (with short title Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018) lasting until March 23, 2018.[1]

Spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 were increased for both defense and nondefense spending, although defense spending was increased more. The defense discretionary funding cap was increased by $80 billion in FY2018 and $85 billion in FY 2019, while the non-defense domestic discretionary spending cap was increased by $63 billion in FY2018 and $68 billion in FY2019.[1]

For the 2017 tax year only, several provisions affecting relatively large numbers of individual taxpayers, including the "above-the-line" deduction for certain post-secondary tuition costs (Form 8917), the exclusion from gross income for discharged mortgage debt for a principal residence (Form 982), and the Schedule A itemized deduction for mortgage insurance premiums were retroactively restored. The IRS updated several 2017 tax forms to reflect these extensions on February 23, 2018; taxpayers affected by the change who filed a return before this date can file an amended return (Form 1040X) to claim these tax adjustments.[3]

The BBA of 2018 reinstated the nonbusiness energy property credit for 2017, and it reinstated the residential energy efficient property credit for qualified small wind energy property costs, qualified geothermal heat pump property costs, and qualified fuel cell property costs to the end of 2021. These had expired in 2016, and the 2017 Form 5695 available prior to the passage the bill had 8 lines of "Reserved for Future Use." [4]

It expanded the availability of hardship withdrawals from Section 401(k) retirement plans.[5]